A huge majority of Americans back the government’s use of drone strikes on potential threats but a plurality believes it is illegal to target U.S. citizens living abroad, according to a poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University conducted in December and released on Thursday.
Seventy-five percent of those surveyed said they approve of the military’s use of drones, while 65 percent said they approve of the CIA’s use of the program.
But 48 percent said that, to the best of their knowledge, the U.S. government using drones to target American citizens living in other countries is illegal — contrary to the Obama administration’s assertion of its legality that’s been the focus of intense scrutiny from many civil liberties experts. Twenty-four percent said they believe the U.S. government can target its own citizens with drones, while 28 percent said they are unsure.
